The evolution of the wireless internet continues to be driven by the ongoing technical advances in mobile communication. End users now expect wireless access to the internet from essentially any location. While some particular locations pose technical difficulties to providing wireless internet access, for example, within buildings, uninhabited terrain, underground or underwater, and aboard vehicles on land, in the air, and at sea; satellite technology has made wireless access to the internet possible from many of these secluded locations. However, the performance and reliability (i.e., mobile quality of service (QoS)) of wireless communication from many of these remote locations may at times be disappointing to the end user and/or provider.
Commercial air travelers are able to wirelessly access the internet through an aircraft's communication system that interacts with suitable satellite stations during travel. To maintain communications between the passengers and various ground networks, the wireless communications often need to be switched among several satellite stations during the flight. Ineffective switching among the several satellite stations may contribute to intermittent service and dropped connections, which adversely affect the mobile QoS. It is therefore desirable to reduce these disruptions and provide an effective method of maintaining wireless communication between the passengers and the various satellite stations.